WHO IS GOD

Who Is God - Who Does He Claim to
Be?
Who is God? He's been described as
everything from an impersonal life-
force to a benevolent, personal,
almighty Creator. He has been called
by many names, including: "Zeus,"
"Jupiter," "Brahma," "Allah," "Ra,"
"Odin," "Ashur," "Izanagi,"
"Viracocha," "Ahura Mazda," and "the
Great Spirit" to name just a few. He's
seen by some as "Mother Nature"
and by others as "Father God." But
who is He really? Who does He claim
to be?
Who Is God - Father God or Mother
Nature?
Who is God? What has He revealed
about Himself? To begin with,
whenever He refers to Himself in
parental terms, He always addresses
Himself as "Father," never "Mother."
He calls Himself "a Father to Israel," 1
and in one instance, when His
"children" were particularly
disrespectful to Him, He said to
them, "A son honors his father, and a
servant his master. If then I am the
Father, where is My honor? And if I
am a Master, where is My
reverence?" 2
His prophets acknowledged Him as
Father by saying, "You are our
Father, we are the clay, and You our
potter; And all of us are the work of
Your hand," 3 and "do we not all have
one Father? Has not one God
created us?" 4 Never once does God
refer to Himself as "Mother" and
never once is He called such by the
prophets to whom He spoke. Calling
God "Mother Nature" is comparable
to calling your earthly father "Mom."
Who Is God - What Does God Care
About?
Who is God in terms of moral
attributes? What does God have to
say about Himself in this regard? He
says that He delights in justice and
righteousness: "…Let not the wise
man boast of his wisdom or the
strong man boast of his strength or
the rich man boast of his riches, but
let him who boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises
kindness, justice and righteousness
on earth, for in these I delight." 5 "For
I, the LORD, love justice; I hate
robbery and iniquity..." 6
Justice and equity are very important
to God. But so are grace and mercy.
And so, while God will hold everyone
accountable, each for their own lives,
He extends His grace to the
repentant sinner. He promises that,
"'If the wicked man turns from all his
sins which he has committed and
observes all My statutes and
practices justice and righteousness,
he shall surely live; he shall not die.
All his transgressions which he has
committed will not be remembered
against him; because of his
righteousness which he has
practiced, he will live. Do I have any
pleasure in the death of the wicked,'
declares the Lord GOD, 'rather than
that he should turn from his ways
and live?...I have no pleasure in the
death of anyone who dies,' declares
the Lord GOD. 'Therefore, repent and
live.'" 7
By "death" God is not referring to the
physical death which we might have
in mind. Rather, God is referring to
something which will happen in
eternity, after our physical deaths.
The Scriptures refer to this event as
the "second death." 8 The first death
separates us from our bodies and
takes us from this world. The second
death is different. It also entails a
separation, but it's the separation of
one group of people from another:
the righteous and the forgiven on
one hand and the wicked and the
unrepentant on the other. The two
groups will be judged separately.
The one group will be rewarded
according to the good that they've
done. Their evil deeds will be
overlooked, forgiven by God. The
other group will be judged according
to the evil that they have done, and
their good deeds will not keep them
from their punishment. God says,
"When a righteous man turns away
from his righteousness, commits
iniquity and dies because of it, for his
iniquity which he has committed he
will die." But "when a wicked man
turns away from his wickedness
which he has committed and
practices justice and righteousness,
he will save his life. Because he
considered and turned away from all
his transgressions which he had
committed, he shall surely live; he
shall not die. …Therefore, repent and
live." 9 In this way, God will see that
justice ultimately prevails, but that
mercy is given to the humble and the
repentant.
God has made a provision for those
who want to repent, a provision to
atone for the sins of those who want
to be made right with Him. He sent a
"Messiah," a Servant who willingly
suffered and died a vicarious death
in order to pay for the sins of those
who would repent and trust in Him.
The Scriptures say, "Who has
believed our message and to whom
has the arm of the LORD been
revealed?…Surely He took up our
infirmities and carried our sorrows…
He was pierced for our
transgressions, He was crushed for
our iniquities; the punishment that
brought us peace was upon Him,
and by His wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own
way; and the LORD has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.…it was the
LORD's will to crush Him and cause
Him to suffer, and though the LORD
makes His life a guilt offering, He will
see His offspring and prolong His
days, and the will of the LORD will
prosper in His hand. After the
suffering of His soul, He will see the
light of life and be satisfied; by his
knowledge my righteous servant will
justify many, and he will bear their
iniquities.…he poured out his life unto
death, and was numbered with the
transgressors. For he bore the sin of
many, and made intercession for the
transgressors." 10
Learn more about the Messiah!
Footnotes:
1 Jeremiah 31:9 (NKJV)
2 Malachi 1:6 (NIV)
3 Isaiah 64:8 (NKJV)
4 Malachi 2:10 (NASB); cf. Psalm 89:26;
Jeremiah 31:9; Isaiah 9:6; 63:16
5 Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NIV)
6 Isaiah 61:8 (NIV)
7 Ezekiel 18:21-23, 32 (NASB)
8 Revelation 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8
9 Ezekiel 18:26-28, 32 (NASB)
10 Isaiah 53:1, 4-6, 10-12 (NIV); cf. Isaiah
52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Daniel 9:24-27
WHAT DO YOU THINK? - We have all
sinned and deserve God's judgment.
God , the Father, sent His only Son to
satisfy that judgment for those who
believe in Him. Jesus , the creator
and eternal Son of God, who lived a
sinless life, loves us so much that
He died for our sins, taking the
punishment that we deserve, was
buried, and rose from the dead
according to the Bible . If you truly
believe and trust this in your heart,
receiving Jesus alone as your Savior ,
declaring, " Jesus is Lord," you will be
saved from judgment and spend
eternity with God in heaven.